He will wear my name on his insides.
Prowling past Leo, I hear the beep…beep…beep of the defib before the low hum as it shocks our girl. Her body rises and thuds against the floor.
He fucking did this to her.
He killed her.
I advance on him, and he grins, blood from his obvious tackle with Seb staining his lips.
“It was nothing personal,” he hisses. “I’m just here for the paycheck. Jack has more money than sense. He didn’t even notice where Marjorie was spending it. Fucking idiot. Another moron in politics.”
“Oh, you’re wrong,” I growl. “It’s way fucking personal and you’ve cashed your last check.”
He swipes out with his knife, missing me as I dodge with ease. I bring a boot down on the side of his shin, making him nearly topple over. He gains his feet fast enough to swipe at me, missing me by an inch. He throws a punch, landing a fist to my jaw. We trade blow for blow, testing the other. The room is small and gives me plenty of surfaces to use. I grab his head and bring it down to connect with my knee, stunning him. Using his dazed status to my advantage, I ram his skull into the sink and then toilet before slashing out and cutting him across the arm with my knife.
Bleed, motherfucker.
You’re going to bleed so fucking much for what you did.
He hisses in pain, grabbing his arm and spitting out the blood filling his mouth. An ugly scar pulls on his brow as he furrows them and roars before charging me. He catches me around the waist, trying to ram me backward against the sink. I slam my knife down into his back and then yank it out. He howls and throws his weight further into me, taking me to the ground. He slumps over me as he searches for the strength to keep me pinned. Straddling my waist, he attempts to force his blade down into my face, but I’ve weakened him too much, and I know I can overpower him.
Zac, without hesitation, approaches from behind and grabs a handful of the guy’s hair. He yanks his head back and slices across his jugular at the same time I plunge my blade into his heart. Blood spurts over me, a broken tap coating me in the bastard’s life source. Zac pushes the body to the ground, releasing me from beneath him.
Scrambling to my feet, both mine and Zac’s eyes fall upon the unconscious Marjorie lying slumped beside the toilet. Zac checks her pulse and nods to inform me she’s breathing. Picking her up, he moves through to the bedroom and dumps her on the bed.
I’m on shaky legs as I walk into the bedroom, but I weaken and collapse to my knees when I dare my gaze to Clove. Leo holds Lucky to his chest. It all comes rushing back. Harsh reality sucker punches me in the gut. Burning fire leaks from my eyes, a rock lodging in my throat. I can’t do this. Not without her.
“It’s okay,” he tells me, maneuvering her body so I can see her beautiful face. Dark lashes flutter as her eyelids blink open. Her cheeks are still pale and thick, still-blue lips open with a delicate, soft murmur seeping from them.
“Guess I really am lucky,” she croaks.
I throw myself at her, hugging both her and Leo and letting all my fear, anger, and sorrow bleed from me like an open sore. She’s okay. She’s fucking okay.
“I love you, Lucky,” I choke out. “Damn, woman, you scared the hell outta me.”
“Out of us!” Leo corrects me, his cheeks wet with tears.
“We need to get this asshole to the hospital before he bleeds out,” Zac grunts, looking down at Seb, who is slouching over Lucky’s legs. His blood seeps out, leaking all over her, and his face is ashen.
“And her,” I say, pointing at the bed. “She might be hurt too.”
“It was Marjorie,” Seb groans, shifting. “She fucking stabbed me.”
She what?
Zac’s face flashes with fury as my mind attempts to catch up.
Marjorie?
Nerdy, librarian looking Marjorie?
“She killed my mom,” Lucky sobs, gripping onto Leo’s shirt. She wheezes as her eyes struggle to stay open. We need to get her seen by a fucking doctor, too.
A ragged gasp resounds from the bed and Marjorie sits bolt up like the fucking Undertaker from the WWE back in the day.
She screeches at Lucky, “You’ve ruined everythi—”
Pop!
Her words are silenced by the shot and she’s knocked back. Marjorie’s mouth hangs open as blood runs down the new hole that’s in the middle of her forehead. Zac lowers his gun and hisses, “Cunt.”
As we stare in stunned silence, Zac barks us into action. “Hospital. Now.” He shoves his gun into his holster before scooping up Lucky from Leo’s grasp and nodding for us to help Seb. “Don’t make me say it again, boys. Let’s go.”